It really varies from interview to interview. The vast majority are just about who you are and your interest in Brown. Some interviewers might try to test you intellectually, but Brown's questions to interviewers do not really ask for this. At Brown, the interview does not hold much weight. As long as you don't blatantly insult your interviewer, you should be fine. Also, check out Brown's interview report questions:
yeah me and my interviewer had a normal convo that eventually led her into talking about home much she loved Brown and anecdotes about her experience. that was awesome. thats what an interview should be. and also convey how much you know about the school and your interest as well.
I was really worried about this, but my interview turned out to be more of a conversation about myself. I'm very interested in both journalism and getting involved with the music industry, so he asked me some kind of tough questions regarding the future of newspapers, the music industry, etc. However, none of these questions were that bad because it is something I am interested in and have strong opinions about.
Basically my advice would be to just be honest about your interests, and then be informed about them. Don't pretend to be interested in Noetic science if you actually aren't, because you will undoubtedly get some tough questions about the subject. I would only expect many current events/political questions if you indicate an interest in public policy.
Although this is not the Harvard thread I have to say that my Harvard interviewer asked me about the situation about Cuba and USA because I am cubano but I think that was just a little curiosity question from but it was POLITICAL however I liked!
Out of all of the interviews I've had so far (Penn, Harvard, Yale, Duke, WashU, Dartmouth), the only one that asked me about current events and politics was Duke. And my Duke interviewer was a lawyer.
It's a conversation. Whether your interviewer had planned to ask current affairs or political questions, there's a good chance that an interview will not play out as he/she imagined it. At my Northwestern interview, for example, my interviewer got so caught up trying to talk politics and current affairs with me that once we were through talking about global/American/Singaporean/Indian affairs (including things like Palin's current post on Fox News), she realized that she was pretty much out of time and that she had asked almost nothing about me or about Northwestern. Meanwhile at my Columbia interview, my interviewer (a lawyer) tried to get me to explain my liking for a book that he hadn't read himself, which provided for an awkward situation. Most of my other interviews were largely centered around me and my attitude towards various parts of my life (academics, extracurriculars, college, career ambitions and so on). There's no real way to prepare and at times, preparation can get counterproductive.
umm mine turned political.. i'm not sure how this happened, but we talked about art, "what makes me wake up in the morning".. and somehow things got political... it wasn't bad.. just not what i had in mind.. plus the guy had studied economics and math.. ohhh i remember how it got into politics... he asked me what "drove me" and i said opposition.. i think..
